Independence Day: My thoughts

The next two days will mark the Independence Day of both India and Pakistan. However, what does Independence mean to Panjabis?

To give a brief background, the border of India and Pakistan is mainly divided on the region of Panjab.”Panj-ab” loosely translates to the “land of five rivers”. However, in 1947, this land of five rivers was divided between two nations which were built on the concept of religion- two religions that have struggled to maintain harmony for centuries. While Pakistan Panjab received 2/3 of the traditional region, India Panjab received a 1/3 of the portion.

Panjab, like many other regions in South Asia was an ethnic region that had its own independence prior to the British rule and the subsequent forming of the two nations. It is never mentioned in history books that the Sikh empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh spanned from the Khyber Pass to Patiala (if we include the smaller princely states that maintained their own “land”, the empire would span close to modern day Delhi). Further, while most of India was under British rule beginning in the late 1600s to early 1700s, Panjab did go under full British rule until 1849- this means that Panjab was only ruled by the British for a mere 98 years.

It is important to note that the Sikh empire was not a Sikh only state. Although the rulers were Sikhs, they had a majority of Hindu and Muslim residents. In fact, Muslims and Hindus played important roles in the development and maintenance of the empire. However, without going into too much detail, the Sikh empire was defeated and the British prevailed.

In the years of struggle for independence, over 80% of those who were sent to the gallows or imprisoned during the British rule were Sikhs from Panjab, all while Sikhs only made up 2% of the population. Panjab gave the world Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, and many other freedom fighters.

With the partition of 1947 came mass migration that resulted  in 12-14 million people crossing the borders on both sides, with Sikhs and Hindus going to India and Muslims going to Pakistan. Over 1 million people were killed, both sides murdered each other like barbarians, and neither side is less guilty than the other.

The correlation of Sikhs and Panjab?

Sikhs were mainly farmers and rural people. The land in western Panjab is often considered more fertile, and due to their large roles in the British army, they were given enormous amounts of land and property for their services in the world wars and other efforts.  They moved to India amidst promises from Nehru and Gandhi that the Indian state will recognize Panjab as a semi-autonomous state, and that Sikhs will receive representation for their valiant efforts in regards to Independence. But none of this occurred, with Nehru eventually stating that circumstances had changed.

The 1960s marked the further linguistic divide of Panjab on linguistic lines. While Sikhs declared their mother tongues Panjabi, their Hindu brothers declared their mother tongues Hindi, and Haryana was created. The 1970s marked the green revolution and gradual decline of the Panjabi farmer. Then, due to societal, economic, and religious strife the 1980s-1990s marked the violent murder of Sikhs throughout Panjab.

At the end of the day, the Muslims in Panjab have a sense of identity with Pakistan and the Hindus of Panjab have a sense of identity in India. But the Sikhs are stuck, on one end they gave their lives for India- and feel they should be able to have that sense of pride, but the betrayal and struggle since August 15, 1947 begs them to want more.

The Sikhs remained Panjabi. Their language, their scripture, their culture – it is Panjabi. To many such as myself, I despise the border created by the British and the selfish leaders who claimed to be the voice of millions (Jinnah, Zail Singh, or Nehru). In Panjab- Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and other faiths lived in harmony under the Sikh empire. With the partition, the Hindus received India and the Muslims received Pakistan, but the Sikhs received nothing. This is the sole reason that Sikhs struggle for their own cause of freedom and identity, because unfortunately not many of their Muslim or Hindu Panjabis feel the need to join them. While the other two enjoy nationalistic pride, the Sikhs are left wondering what they are. They suffered and continue to suffer in a nation that promised them autonomy and independence, and would probably have suffered in Pakistan as well.

I leave you with my final thoughts.

Today marks the beginning of a week of remorse, as it marks the death of 1 million people. The ones killing each other were Panjabi. Suddenly, these Panjabis were killing based of the religion of the other person. They did not understand that the women they were raping were their own sisters. The men they were killing were their own brothers, and on this day 65 years ago- Panjabis lost their identity, and divided themselves. Such division is used to this day to divide, control, and destroy Panjab, Panjabis, and Panjabiyat.